1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system which is constructed on a network including a server apparatus, client apparatuses, and printers usable by the client apparatuses, an information processing apparatus for use in the printing system, an installation method for the printing system, and an installation program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of installing a printer driver include an OS-dependent type. In the case of an OS-dependent method which is dependent e.g. on Windows (registered trademark), a user selects addition of a printer from a window of the properties of a printer, and then inputs necessary information through an interactive user guide called Wizard, to thereby install a printer driver. With a view to minimizing user operation, there is also conventionally employed a method using an installer, similarly to the case of installing an application program.
However, when either of the above-mentioned installation methods is employed in an environment where numerous client apparatuses are used by numerous users, such as company users, it becomes necessary to carry out the operation of installing printer drivers in all of the client apparatuses, and therefore the total number of man-hours needed for the operation cannot be neglected from an economical point of view. Further, the installation of a printer driver in a client apparatus requires a predetermined skill level or higher. Therefore, it becomes necessary to prepare a detailed manual for the installing operation, or provide tutorials for all the users of the client apparatuses. In the worst case, a network administrator has to carry out an enormous amount of work for installing a printer driver in each of the client apparatuses. In short, the number of man-hours needed for the installing operation increases with an increase in the number of the client apparatuses.
As a method capable of minimizing the number of man-hours needed for installation of printer drivers, there has been proposed a method called Point & Print installation, which uses a print server, e.g. in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-140852. More specifically, this method is based on a capability of a Widows-NT or Windows-2000 server apparatus to automatically distribute a print driver to client apparatuses, and is capable of installing the printer driver in all the client apparatuses by the automatic distribution.
When a printer that can be equipped with an optional device or the like has its apparatus configuration changed by mounting of the optional device therein, it is necessary to change the settings of each client apparatus concerning the apparatus configuration of the printer so as to cause the change in the apparatus configuration of the printer to be reflected in the client apparatus. However, in the Point & Print installation method using a print server, the server apparatus (administrator) cannot change the settings of the client apparatuses (users) concerning the apparatus configuration of the printer, on its (his/her) own initiative.